


Cake

by thetreesgrowodd



Category: Toy Story 3 (2010), Toy Story Series (Movies)
Genre: Baking, Birthday Cake, Cake, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Warm, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-01
Updated: 2014-10-01
Packaged: 2018-02-19 11:39:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2386976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetreesgrowodd/pseuds/thetreesgrowodd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Woody and Buzz bake a cake for Bonnie's birthday. Warm and fuzzy fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cake

The hardest part was opening the fridge, but Woody and Buzz managed it together. Then, they assembled the ingredients, cookbook, utensils, and small cake pan on the counter. Using the oven would be too difficult, but the large toaster oven on the counter made a perfect toy-sized equivalent.

While Woody lined up the mixing bowls and utensils, Buzz opened the cookbook and flipped to the page they'd bookmarked the night before.

"Preheat oven to 350 degrees," Buzz read.

Woody twisted the knob on the toaster oven to 350, and it began to preheat, radiating a gentle warmth and light. Rain was pattering against the windows, and the daylight outside was dim and grey, but the kitchen was cozy. Bonnie's mom had put up strings of white Christmas lights and yellow and green streamers in celebration of Bonnie's birthday. She'd taken Bonnie out for the afternoon, so Woody and Buzz had a few hours to secretly get their surprise ready.

Working together, they measured the sugar and poured it into the mixing bowl, then put a stick of butter in the microwave to soften.

Woody, watching the butter revolve, thought of something. "Buzz, this is going to get tricky, isn't it?"

Buzz waved one hand. "Don't worry, we'll clean up and they'll never know we were even here. We'll leave a note with the cake making them think a friend dropped it off."

"No, not that. I mean things are going to get messy!"

"So?"

"Well, you — Mr. Hard-Plastic — don't have anything to worry about," Woody said. "But me? I'd get a big, permanent stain, or a grease spot! After _sixty years_ of keeping myself clean!"

"Easily solved!"

Buzz pulled out a plastic baggie with a dramatic flourish. Using a pair of kitchen shears, he cut holes out for Woody's head and arms, then fastened it around Woody's waist with a garbage bag twist.

Woody looked down at it. "Not bad." He looked back up at Buzz. "Although it's not as nice as Mrs. Nesbit's apron. It's a shame you don't have it anymore. You could wear it."

Buzz cleared his throat. "We'd better see to that butter."

They got out the softened butter and pushed a knife through the stick to cut it to the required amount, then combined it with the sugar using the electric mixer. Next were the eggs; Woody held them over the bowl while Buzz used his karate chop to crack them open.

"Great. What's next?" Woody asked, tossing the eggshells aside.

"Hmm." Buzz scratched his head and studied the cookbook. "It says here... two and a half _tisps_ vanilla extract."

"Two and a half _what_?"

" _Tisps_!" Buzz said. "A tisp is an exotic type of flower native to the Raxip Cluster, primarily used as garnish, although it is edible..."

"Buzz —"

"It tastes kind of like okra." Buzz rubbed his chin. "But Woody, how will we get them? Earthlings don't have interstellar travel yet, and my ship is still being repaired."

"For crying out loud, Buzz! It says _T-S-P_ as in the abbreviation for —" Woody began.

"Teaspoon!" Buzz grinned broadly and held up the plastic measuring spoon from behind his back. "I was just messing with you!"

Woody sighed and slumped forward.

"You always fall for my deluded spaceman bit, don't you?" Buzz asked.

"Maybe that's because it's a bit too close to the truth," Woody muttered.

"Oh Woody. You know I'm over all that. I know what's what now."

"And thank goodness for that," Woody said.

Buzz expertly measured out and added the vanilla extract. He touched a drop of it to each side of his neck and winked at Woody. "Ok, what's next?" Buzz asked, setting the measuring spoon aside.

Woody looked at the cookbook page upside down. "Flour."

Together they lugged over the flour, which Bonnie's mom kept in a fancy glass container. To reach it, Buzz climbed on top of a box of salt, and Woody scrambled up on top of a tin of tea. Buzz scooped up flour in the measuring cup and held it up while Woody leveled it with a butter knife. Carefully, they climbed down and emptied the measuring cup into the bowl.

The milk was even trickier. The carton was full and heavy and it took both of them to tip it over and pour some out into the measuring cup. A bit sloshed onto the floor in the process.

"Oh great," Buzz said.

"Watch this. I know the easy way to clean it up," Woody said. "Ginger! Here kitty!" he called, clapping his hands.

But Ginger, curled up on a dining room chair, just flipped her tail.

"Stupid cat," Woody grumbled, putting his hands on his hips.

"Allow me," Buzz said and turned on the electric can opener with a flourish. Ginger jumped up and ran over meowing. Then she noticed the milk. "See?" Buzz said with a smile, as she lapped it up.

Next, Woody expertly whisked together the dry ingredients.

"You seem to know your way around a kitchen," Buzz said.

"So do you." Woody nodded at the lemon rind that Buzz was grating.

"It's from the academy," Buzz said. "Some of the cadets that I bunked with were fond of making, uh, shall we say, baked goods with _recreational herbs_ mixed in."

"Buzz!"

Buzz held up a long curl of lemon rind defensively. "I, of course, did not condone such actions, nor did I partake in any of the laced goods. But we did get so good at baking that we funded our trip to the Raxip Cluster by having a series of bake sales. Strictly untainted baked goods, of course." Buzz looked at Woody apologetically. "Of course... I realize none of it really happened. The memories are still in my head though, and some of them are useful. But what about you? How did you learn to do this?"

Woody tapped the whisk on the edge of the bowl. "Well, Andy's parents' first apartment was tiny. I sat on a shelf overlooking the kitchen. Andy's mom liked to bake a lot and I didn't have anything to do other than watch her. This was before Andy was born." Woody put the whisk down on the counter. "Alright I think we're ready to put it all together!"

They combined the ingredients and poured the batter into the small cake pan.

"This is the part that worries me." Woody grimaced as they opened the toaster oven door. He could feel the heat radiating from it.

"Don't think about it too much. Just put it in nice and quick."

"Easy for you to say. Vinyl melts at a much lower temperature than hard plastic!" Woody grumbled. Each holding one side of the pan, they slid it in and shut the door.

"Whew." Woody leaned back against the flour container as Buzz got the egg timer and set it. While Buzz's back was turned, Woody dusted his hands with flour and mischievously rubbed them on Buzz's head.

"Hey!" Laughing, Buzz ducked away, then dusted his own hands with flour and tackled Woody. He put a clear hand print on the crown of Woody's head, then brushed streaks across Woody's cheeks while Woody laughed and tried to throw him off.

"No fair! I'm an old toy!" Woody cried. Buzz tickled him through the plastic bag smock. Struggling and laughing, Woody accidentally hit the button to release Buzz's wings. One of them clipped the uncapped vanilla bottle. It danced and wobbled but somehow stayed upright.

Buzz sat up and retracted his wings. "Truce?" He held out his hand to Woody.

"Truce."

Woody took Buzz's hand and they both stood up. They eyed each other warily for a second, then Buzz tried to pull Woody down and Woody tried to tackle Buzz and they would up back on the countertop. Laughing, they wrestled until Woody was on top of Buzz.

"That's not how you do a truce," Woody said, panting.

Buzz wrapped his arms around him. "Isn't it?"

"Hmm. You smell good," Woody breathed into Buzz's ear.

"Good enough to eat?" Buzz asked with a leer.

Woody sat up, still straddling Buzz. "Now Buzz. You know us toys don't need to eat," he said, teasingly.

"I'd eat you up," Buzz said in a low tone, pulling Woody back down and kissing his neck.

Woody's boot hit the measuring cup, which clattered away into a pile of discarded egg shells and the remains of the lemon. They both looked around at the mess.

"We'd better clean up before this goes any further," Woody said with a sigh, getting up.

When they had finally put everything away, except for what they'd need to ice the cake, they sat down, side by side, on the cookbook, watching the cake baking in the toaster oven. Woody had wiped the flour off of both of them with a damp paper towel, and had thrown out his smock along with the rest of the trash. Buzz had wiped the counter down with a sponge. The kitchen was clean again, and Bonnie's mom would never suspect anyone had even been here. They'd already prepared a cake box with a note saying the cake was from Bonnie's friend Madison. As there were at least three Madisons in her preschool class, and another one who lived up the street, it was unlikely they'd ever figure out that none of the Madisons were actually responsible for the cake.

When it was done, they shut off the toaster oven, and took out the pan oh-so-carefully with two pot holders and set it on a trivet. Woody stuck a toothpick into it. It came out clean.

"It's done!"

Woody knelt down to read the back of the can of frosting, preparing for the next step. "It says to let it cool for a while before we can ice it," Woody said, setting a timer for the recommended length of time.

And so they sat, just listening to the rain on the window, their arms around each other. Buzz smelled like vanilla with just a hint of lemon. His strong arm around Woody felt reassuring. Woody traced the complicated rings of Buzz's collar where the helmet retracted.

"Bonnie's going to love this," Woody said.

"Yeah she is. She's going to have a great birthday."

"It's so great to have a kid who appreciates everything so much. Not that Andy didn't, but a lot of kids don't. But for Bonnie everything is important. Special. Getting a cake, even." Woody said wistfully.

"We're lucky toys." Buzz pulled Woody closer. "I see that now, after being around the daycare kids. I got spoiled with Andy as an owner... and now Bonnie."

"She's special. She really is. I know every toy feels that way about his kid but..." Woody gripped Buzz's hand. Buzz intertwined their fingers. "I was with Andy for so long and I loved him so much that I never thought I'd love anyone else. I mean, I still love Andy, and miss him, and I always will. But it's alright — he grew up and moved on, and that's how it's supposed to be, and now, with Bonnie...."

"You love her." Buzz smiled. "I see it in your face when she plays with you."

"My face does _not_ change when she plays with me, thank you very much! After sixty years, I have a little more self-control than that!"

"Well, I see it, even if no one else can. I know you too well." Buzz grinned.

"Yeah, alright. I do love her." Woody caressed Buzz's hand with his thumb. "And I love you."

"I know."

"Don't do the Han Solo bit! Every time!" Woody said. "Just because you're a space toy doesn't mean —"

The timer went off. They jumped up. Now that the cake was cooler, they frosted it with a deep purple icing. It was harder than it looked and they worked hard to get it smooth.

"Ok, next is the white icing!" Woody said, finishing up one last spot. When he turned, his boot caught the edge of the frosting lid. He yelped and Buzz thrust his hand out to grab him, but it was too late. Woody fell back and sat down hard on the cake.

"Gah!" Woody jumped up again, cringing and looking over his shoulder to see what damage had been done to the cake.

"It's ok. Nothing we can't fix with a little more icing," Buzz said, examining it. "Good thing it wasn't me. I'd have put a crater in it for sure. But I'm more worried about —" He peered at Woody's rear.

"How bad is it?" Woody asked.

"It's not bad at all. In fact... it's quite nice."

"Buzz! Not my rump — the icing!" Woody cried. "Is it going to stain?"

"It's close to the same color as your denim. I think once we get you cleaned up it won't show at all." Buzz got a wet paper towel and cleaned Woody up. Aside from feeling a little damp in the seat of his pants he seemed to be ok.

Woody let out a sigh of relief, but Buzz caught his wrist urgently. "Careful! You've got some on your hand."

Woody looked at his hand, holding it out awkwardly. He'd automatically put it down on the cake when he'd fallen. Luckily the frosting was only on his hand and hadn't gotten onto his cuff at all. It would stain the yellow fabric for sure.

Buzz raised it slowly to his mouth. Keeping eye contact with Woody, Buzz licked and sucked the icing off. "See? Good enough to eat." Buzz kissed Woody, letting him taste the lingering flavor in his mouth. Woody could feel the smile on Buzz's lips.

They went back to the cake eventually. Woody touched up the spot he'd accidentally messed up while Buzz added a drifts of icing for the border in white.

They finished the cake with white stars. That was the theme they'd picked — the starry sky. It was the symbol of what Buzz and Woody had in common, no matter how far apart they were in their origins. The star was Woody's symbol as Sheriff. The night sky was what he strummed his guitar under while he sang to Bullseye on those lonely nights on the cattle trail. And the stars were Buzz's home habitat — the thing he had devoted his life to protecting. Those were the lingering memories and past lives that lurked at the edges of their minds. That they weren't real didn't make them any less significant.

Woody finished by icing Bonnie's name in fancy script (Ken had taught him how) complete with a shooting star for the dot over the 'i'. Then they were done. They stood with and admired their work. It was almost a shame it would be eaten, but that was what it was for.

Buzz said Woody's name quietly.

Woody looked up. "Hmm?"

"I love you too."

Woody's face took on a look of affection mixed with mock exasperation. "Hey now. I wasn't trying to guilt you into saying it."

"No — I wanted to say it. It should be said."

Woody put his arms around Buzz. "Thank you."

They left the kitchen spotless, with the cake at the center of the counter for Bonnie to discover when she got home. Together, they went back to the toy box in Bonnie's room, glowing with feelings of contentment.


End file.
